58 Fang

The class appeared in a city that had a sparse population of people.

『Woah! Reagan, where are we?』[Katherin]

The city looked extremely modern, with lights and signs everywhere.

The place they came out of was a strangely rustic gate though.

As they were walking down the plaza, Reagan explained.

『This is Essence City, the main place of trade for mages. You can treat the entire day as a field trip, you aren't going back to the school until late.』[Reagan]

『Isn't there a permission slip or anything?』[Marn]

Reagan stopped in place and looked back at Marn

『Are you complaining? I can send you back.』[Reagan]

He raised his hand as if he was going to snap and summon a gate.

Marn looked a bit caught off guard.

『No! I was just kidding! Please don't!』[Marn]

Reagan nodded and continued walking.

『...I don't know why, but something about being sent back scared me..』[Marn]

Reagan's ears perked up when he heard that.

『Oh? Then it's possible that you actually have some purpose here today.』[Reagan]

『Huh? Why?』[Marn]

『It just means you have some fate here.』[Reagan]

Marn stood in place when Reagan told him that.

『...Fate? You don't believe in legends, but you believe in fate?』[Marn]

Reagan turned around and called to him.

『Come on, get a move on. 』[Reagan]

『Ah! Alright!』[Marn]

He caught up and kept walking with the group.

...

Before long they were in front of a place called "Eden".

『...Despite the name, it looks like a zoo though.』[Thomas]

There was a fence around the perimeter and a broken gate.

『...Is this closed?』[Jenny]

Reagan kicked the door open, but the gate ended up flying off the hinge and making a lot of noise that attracted the attention of the people walking past.

『REAGAN?!』[Jenny]

『Why?!』[Thomas]

『...Goodness.』[Anastasia]

The people walking by made offhand comments.

『...Oh! It's Reagan!』

『Making trouble again, huh..?』

It seems that Reagan was a regular disturbance in the area.

The passerby continued to walk and go about their way.

『...Is this really alright?』[Nova]

The class walked through the destroyed gate.

Before long, they arrived at an office and Reagan began to call out.

『Hell-?』[Reagan]

The moment Reagan opened his mouth, he got punched in the face by a blur and sent flying.

『Damn it! Why do you always smash the door in?!』[???]

A woman with long light brown hair and milky pink streaks started to yell at Reagan, who was on the floor 4 feet away.

『Ggh… The gate was closed..』[Reagan]

He writhed in pain on the floor.

The woman pushed some of her hair off of her face.

『Then, open it NORMALLY!』[???]

She then realized that a bunch of students were watching this unfold.

『Ah! Sorry about that. My name is Raina. I'm this idiot's wife.』[Raina]

『You're Reagan's wife?!』[Jenny]

She smiled while nodding her head.

『Yes, unfortunately.』[Raina]

『...That's not nice, Raina.』[Reagan]

Jenny and the class completely ignored Reagan's comment.

『But, you're so pretty! And he's so...』[Jenny]

The class looked at Reagan, who was unkempt to say the least.

『..Well, he does have a kind of wild charm to him. Don't you think?』[Raina]

She looked at him with a look of affection that caused him to look away with a flushed face.

The class whispered amongst themselves when they saw that.

『...Reagan has a love life?』[Thomas]

『...It looks like they get along okay.』[Jenny]

『...Wild charm?』[Jade]

『...Pfft.』[Nova]

Suddenly, one of them stepped up as if they had a question to ask Raina.

『Hmm? What is it?』[Raina]

Marn pointed a finger toward the direction they came from.

『...The gate has flown off the hinge, do you want to hit him a few more times?』[Marn]

Hearing this, her veins started to show on her forehead.

『...Marn, why did you-?』[Nova]

『Oh? Then… Rea..gan?』[Raina]

She immediately went berserk- the mana she radiated caused it to seem as if her hair began to float.

Immediately afterward, she started to stomp on Reagan while he was on the ground.

『RAINA! STOP! PLEASE!』[Reagan]

Marn could not help but have an evil grin and laugh non-stop as he got stomped.

….

After that was dealt with, Reagan fixed the door and Raina settled down.

『Then, what did you come for?』[Raina]

Reagan nursed his wounds, while responding.

『I came to get a partner for the students that are compatible with your first circle beasts.』[Reagan]

She eyed over the students that were present.

『Hmm… Alright. Then, let's take a stroll through and find out if any of them can take a liking to you.』[Raina]

They went through a path that led deeper into the property.

『Okay, from here on we will be seeing various types of creatures. As we continue to walk down the path, the monsters will continue to get stronger.』[Reagan]

『So I can just choose the strongest monster?! Awesome!』[Marn]

『Pfft. No. You have to choose the monster that you resonate with the most.』[Reagan]

Raina nodded her head.

『The strongest monsters tend to be the most difficult. However, when you form a pact with a creature, you change its entire being.』[Raina]

『...Change its being?』[Nova]

Reagan lightly clapped his hands together.

『Lecture time.』[Reagan]

As they walked, Reagan began to lecture them.

『When a creature forms a pact with you, depending on your bond with it, you will change how the creature evolves.』[Reagan]

Looking at the snake crawling around Reagan's body, Katherin couldn't help but ask.

『What about your partner creature? How did it evolve?』[Katherin]

Reagan looked at the snake crawling around him as well and his eyes seemed to soften.

『He was approximately the size of a noodle when I first summoned him, and looked like a normal snake.』[Reagan]

Looking at his partner now, they saw a lustrous black scaled snake the size of an arm, and even longer- with deep yellow eyes and an affectionately flickering tongue.

『You were always there for me, weren't you?』[Reagan]

He pet his snake, which caused the class to freeze up a bit.

『...He can display basic human emotions?』[Sophia]

『...Reagan is acting strangely today.』[Anastasia]

After some time though, Raina pouted and kicked Reagan in the shin.

『GAH?! What was that for?!』[Reagan]

She had puffed up cheeks and seemed angry.

『You show that snake more love than you show me...』[Raina]

Reagan smiled and grabbed her hand.

『Sorry.』[Reagan]

Raina began to blush, but she had a wide grin on her face.

『...He's really strange today.』[Marn]

『Yeah.』[Jade]

Finally, they arrived at the first enclosure.

Inside were a variety of peaceful creatures, and even some normal animals.

『...Is that a squirrel?』[Nova]

He pointed at a normal looking squirrel on a tree.

Raina shook her head.

『All the animals in here are magical beasts of some type. That one is a chunaru.』[Raina]

Marn stared at the squirrel, and saw it come closer to him.

It came up to a small little fence, and climbed up until it was close enough for Marn to touch it.

『..Oh? Is it possible?』[Raina]

『...Huh? What's going on?』[Jenny]

Almost subconsciously, Marn began to reach out to the creature.

A green flash of light blinded everyone nearby suddenly.

Raina and Reagan had an incredibly shocked look on their face, before Raina began to laugh.

『Hahaha! You have some incredibly talented students, don't you?』[Raina]

The class was as confused as ever.

『...What just happened?』[Thomas]

『He formed a special pact with the creature. That green light means that the resonance rate was incredibly high, if not perfect.』[Reagan]

『...Huh?! Did I just form a pact with this squirrel?!』[Marn]

Suddenly, as if the chunaru didn't like that, he climbed onto Marn and bit him.

『Ouch! What was that for?!』[Marn]

The chunaru squeaked back at Marn.

『What do you mean you aren't a squirrel?!』[Marn]

The class was absolutely dumbfounded.

『...Is he.. Talking to the chunaru?』[Nova]

Reagan nodded his head.

『Yeah. If a pact has a high enough resonance rate, they can understand each other. So much for forming a pact with the strongest creature though.』[Reagan]

Raina pinched Reagan.

『Stop bullying your student! You had the same situation back in our student days.』[Raina]

Hearing "student days" caused some members of the class to get riled up.

『Wait! Was Reagan a nerd back then?!』[Katherin]

『Was he?! I want to hear about his student days!』[Jenny]

『Well, back the-』[Raina]

She was cut off by Reagan.

『Marn. That is your first partner. Take good care of him and give him a name.』[Reagan]

Hearing this, Marn gave the small squirrel creature a complicated gaze.

『...I wanted to form a pact with the strongest, but...』[Marn]

Their eyes seemed to have a conversation with each other.

『...Fang.』[Marn]

Upon hearing this, the squirrel seemed to be happy and climb up around his arm and onto his shoulder before rubbing its body on his face.

『Hey! Stop that! Ahaha!』[Marn]

The two seemed to get along well right off the bat.

『...He's so cute.』[Katherin]

『...But Fang?』[Jenny]

『I don't see a problem.』[Nova]

『Huh?! Are you serious?』[Jenny]

『I don't see it either. Fang is pretty cool for a name.』[Thomas]

『..Would you give a cute puppy that name?』[Katherin]

After they stared at the squirrel-like creature a bit more, they relented.

『...Point taken.』[Nova]

The talk about the name was quickly discarded when Jade spoke up.

『...First partner?』[Jade]

Reagan crossed his arms together and nodded.

『Yeah. However, most tamers will stop at one. This is because the bond between the tamer and the creature is what creates strength.』[Reagan]

Reagan put a finger on his chin for a moment before continuing.

『...However, if you were a summoner and a tamer.. Well, I don't know. The bond between the two might be different, but summoners tend to only bond with their summoned creature. More research to do..』[Reagan]

『I want a partner too!』[Katherin]

『Well, that's up to your own abilities. Being a tamer this early on in your school career is quite impressive, after all.』[Reagan]

Marn was a bit shocked after hearing these words.

『Did you just compliment me, Reagan?!』[Marn]

Reagan stopped for a moment and patted Marn on the back.

『...Good job.』[Reagan]

He continued to walk away with his wife.

『...Now I feel bad for telling her to beat him up..』[Marn]

The group then continued to walk on the path to catch up to Reagan.